M.2 NVMe ssd in frozen state

[petervl70]

Hello,


When i try to secure erase my m.2 ssd's, it say they are in a frozen state. For a sata ssd, you can unplug the power cord while the computer is still running, but how you do this with m.2 ssd's ?
One m.2 is located under a huge Noctua NH-D15 cooler while the other one is located under my graphical card...


Any suggestions ?

[shadowsports]

Greetings,
While we'd like to help you with your Samsung product, this is a gigabyte products forum.  I suggest utilizing Samsung's resources for your m.2 issue.

http://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/product/consumer/960pro/

FYI - Parted Magic might help.

https://partedmagic.com/nvme-secure-erase/

Good Luck.

[petervl70]

Thanks for your response!


I know this is a gigabyte forum, while my ssd's are from Samsung. But a frozen state comes from a  protective bios, while the bios is, in my case, Gigabyte...


Yesterday i had a chat sesssion with Samsung and they said this:

Alfredo
16:59:59   Hello Peter,
Unfortunately, as part of the secure erase feature you will have to remove the unit when it asks to power cycle the SSD.
Alfredo
17:00:33   It seems like in your case you may have to temporarily remove some other system components in order to power cycle the unit.
Peter
17:00:43   but with an m2 ssd, i cannot remove the graphical card for example when my pc is running
Peter
17:01:30   what does a power cycle means ?
Peter
17:01:55   reset the computer when the m2 is inserted ?
Alfredo
17:02:46   Unfortunately due to the limitations of you set up you would have to find a way to power cycle the unit with the machine on. Power cycle is basically when you unplug and plug the unit back in for the secure erase.
Peter
17:03:08   ah, ok
Alfredo
17:03:08   No, do not reboot the computer when you are trying to do the secure erase.
Peter
17:03:32   
but is it safety to remove an m2 ssd when the computer is still running ?
Alfredo
17:03:51   For power cycling, yes.

Can you confirm this, as they say its safe to remove a m.2 ssd from the mainboard while the computer is still running ?


Thanks in advance.

[shadowsports]

Hi,
Secure erase is NOT something you typically need to do.  I would reserve it for a drive that has been heavily abused, or whos performance has severely diminished, bad cells, etc. 

Like a standard disk, m.2 drives can be partitioned and formatted using diskpart or GParted.  If you want to secure erase your drive because someone told you to do so, maybe you should determine if the service is truly needed.  If the drive is performing within spec then delete your partition(s), create new one(s) format and install. 

Can you remove it from the board while the board is powered, yes, but its a sensitive electrical component and you will run the risk of damaging it or your board.  My advice, if the drive is not operating properly, you should use its warranty.   

     

[petervl70]

I tried your advise and bought the program of Parted Magic. Its not cheap, but it worked
It's able to put the m.2 in sleep mode, without risk of removing manually or removing other parts as Samsung stated to do.


Thanks alot, problem solved !

[shadowsports]

Glad it worked.